A Moon for the Misbegotten
by DistanceBetween
Summary: After years of living with an abusive father who blames Ryou for the death of his mother and sister, Ryou finally decides to run away. Full summary inside.
1. Decision

DB: Hey everyone! This is my first fic ever! I now it's bad now but it will get better soon I promise! :)

YAY: Today is a snow day! No school!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. Or anything else. I own nothing!*sob*

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Summary: After years of living with an abusive father who blames Ryou for the death of his mother and sister, Ryou finally decides to run away. However, life is hard on the streets. He is soon taken in by a small group of young thieves who decide to teach him how to survive. It would also seem that the so called King of Thieves appears to be interested in him…

Sorry, I suck at summaries…

Warning: mild to moderate yaoi/shonen ai. Nothing too bad though! ^_^ Also some rough language and violence.

Now, on with the fic!

A Moon for the Misbegotten

By DistanceBetween

Chapter 1: Decision

"Ryou, you little SHIT! Get the fuck down here!"

The twelve year old boy lay curled up on his bed, tremors traveling the length of his small body. His pale limbs were wrapped around his equally pale face. His fragile body was curled in the fetal position on the tangled sheets, his long legs tucked tight against his chest. His long white hair hung limp down his back, shinning in the faint moonlight that permeated from the gap in the curtains. His large, innocent, chocolate brown eyes were squeezed tightly shut though tears tracked their way down his too white face and soft, almost angelic, features. Quiet sobs tore from between a pair of soft lips, a sound so pitiful that it would tug on the heartstrings of even the coldest of souls.

A large crash suddenly echoed through the house as well as loud footsteps coming closer to the room where the boy hid.

"Ryou!"

The sudden sound of a body slamming against the locked door of the bedroom made the boy jump and sob louder. The door started creaking under the force being exerted against it. The boy pulled his blankets over his head still sobbing.

"No…please…father, go away…" Ryou whispered in a broken voice.

His father, still yelling on the other side of the door, failed to hear the quiet voice of his only son. The older male threw himself against the door again and this time a cracking sound rang through the room as the door splintered and gave way, swinging inward to reveal the large, drunk man. His dark brown hair was shaggy and disheveled; his brown eyes were bloodshot and narrowed in malice. The right side of his face was bruised and swollen as if he had been punched. His breath came raggedly as though he had just run a long way.

The man smiled as he stood in the doorway of the room and saw the huddled ball cowering on the bed under the blankets. His features then twisted into a look of cold, cruel rage as he strode forth into the room, swaying back and forth a bit as he walked.

"What did I tell you about locking doors in my house, you pathetic idiot!" The man yelled as he grabbed the side of the boy's mattress and overturned it, dropping the startled boy onto the hard floor boards.

Ryou, momentarily stunned, quickly recovered and jumped to his feet, hurriedly backing away in a desperate attempt to get away from his father. His father, however, was already moving. With a speed one would not expect from someone as drunk as himself, the man crossed the distance between himself and his in mere seconds. Upon reaching his son, the man grabbed a hold of his son's soft white locks and tugged upward sharply. This action brought tears to Ryou's eyes but he refused to let them spill. He struggled against his father's grip but refused to open his mouth to cry out. It was always worse when he cried out.

_ Maybe I'll be lucky and he'll only hit me around a little today. _Ryou thought. _Please let it just be that…_

His father smiled sickeningly and yanked hard on the boy's hair, bringing his son's face close to his own. As he stared into his son's now open large, brown eyes, his own softened for a moment.

"You…look just like her…" The man whispered to himself, seeming oddly vulnerable for a moment. Then, just as quickly as the softened face had appeared, it was replaced by a look of cold fury as he slammed his son against the wall.

"It's your fault she's dead!" His father screamed.

"It's your fault that they're both dead!"

Ryou's head was slammed against the wall again, causing bright fireworks of color to go off behind his eyes. His head throbbed terribly and his father's yelling was only making the pain worse. He was fairly certain he could feel something warm and wet trickling down through his hair. Ryou groaned loudly and then snapped his eyes open in sudden terror. He had made a sound…

For a moment all was quiet as the pair looked at one another. Then, the older male leaned in close to his son.

"You think you're in pain now?" his father whispered softly. Ryou shivered. His father's breath felt warm and sticky against his cheek and positively reeked of alcohol. Ryou held his own breath and waited, still and silent as a marble carving, for his father's reaction.

"I'll TEACH you the PAIN you deserve!" His father yelled as he raised his fist and struck the boy's jaw with his hard knuckles. Ryou's head snapped to the side slamming his cheek against the wall. Pain radiated from both points of impact. He could taste blood in his mouth from his bitten tongue, making his already nauseous stomach lurch violently. Fighting down the urge to vomit, Ryou looked back toward his father just in time to receive another blow to the face. His father continued to slam his fists into the child, hitting his face, his chest, his stomach, his arms…

The man continued to beat the boy and not once did it occur to Ryou to fight back. This was his punishment. A punishment he knew he deserved. It was his fault. He killed them.

"It's your FAULT!" his father screamed as he continued to pummel every inch of the child he could reach now using his feet to kick as well as his hands to punch. "It's ALL YOUR FAULT! EVERYTHING is your fault!"

_I know. _ Ryou thought sadly.

_I know…_

He repeated those words in his head falling in time with every hit that struck his frail body. SLAM. _I know. _KICK. _I know. _SLAP. _I know. _CRACK.

_I know it's my fault._

His father continued to hit Ryou until his own fists ached and his knuckles were bloodied. Ryou, however, was much the worse for wear. Bruises littered his body, dark and painful. His lip was split and bleeding and one of his eyes was blackened. Blood shone in his white hair from a large gash in the back of his head and was also smeared across his cheek. His arm was very painful to move and as he tried, pain raced through his shoulder like fire. His father sneered as he released his hold on Ryou's hair and allowed the boy to slump against the wall and slide down to the floor where he lay curled on his side back in his protective ball.

The older male continued to sneer as he made his way to a small desk in the corner of the room. On the desk was a single picture of a beautifully pale, white haired woman holding two small children close to her. One of the children was a small boy with equally pale skin and white hair. His large brown eyes were filled with joy as he clasped the hand of an even smaller white haired girl. The faces in the picture were all smiling and laughing, unaware that they would soon be torn apart forever.

The father's face softened for a moment as he looked at the picture. Sadness filled his eyes as he gazed upon the faces of the older and younger females. Then his face hardened once again as he turned back to where his son was still curled upon the ground, the picture now clasped in his hands. He kicked the boy a final time in the side, ignoring the loud crack that sounded and the boy's pained gasp.

"You don't deserve to look at their faces," he told his son quietly as he left the room taking the picture with him.

Ryou lay on the ground and finally released the sobs he had been holding in. _I hate this place. Why did Mum and Amane have to die? It's my fault…I should be dead. _

The twelve year old child continued to release his broken sobs. He was alone. No one would save him from this torture of both mind and body. No one would save him…

He wasn't sure what the final straw was. Perhaps it was his father taking his only picture of his mother and sister. Perhaps he had just finally reached his limit of physical and verbal abuse. Whatever the reason, Ryou finally snapped.

He had had it with the beatings, he had had it with the hurtful words that hurt all the more because he knew they were true, and he had had it with being weak and taking it. He knew he still deserved punishment for his mother's and sister's deaths, but he would receive his punishment some other way than letting his father beat him till he died. His father would be happy once he was gone, this Ryou was certain of. Ryou stood, trying to ignore the pain of his body. He would leave this place.

He decided.

DB: How was it? I ended it sort of fast, sorry about that. I plan on updating as soon as I can.

Just so you know, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll probably update *hint hint*

Please Read and Review!


	2. Found

DB: I'm back! First, I want to thank **puppet-with-a-gunXD**, **Silver880**, and **subaru1999** for your wonderful reviews. Thanks for the support guys! *hands out cookies to reviewers*

I personally think this chapter is better than the last in terms of my writing skill, but I admit, it is a little boring. I think the end is alright though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. If I did children everywhere would be deeply disturbed….

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Summary: After years of living with an abusive father who blames Ryou for the death of his mother and sister, Ryou finally decides to run away. However, life is hard on the streets. He is soon taken in by a small group of young thieves who decide to teach him how to survive. It would also seem that the so called King of Thieves appears to be interested in him…

Sorry, I suck at summaries…

Warning: mild to moderate yaoi/shonen ai. Nothing too bad though! ^_^ Also some rough language and violence. Also attempted rape in this chapter. You have been warned….

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Chapter 2: Found

Ryou sat on the park bench, shivering against the wind that beat against his slim frame. It had been three days since he ran from his 'home'. Three days of heaven and hell mixed together in a convoluted mess. Heaven because he was free and on his own at last; Hell because he was hardly better off than before. He hated to admit it himself but he really had no idea what he was getting into when he left. Yet he could not find it within himself to truly regret his decision.

Ryou had run away on the same night as he made decision. He had gathered a few changes of clothes, his diary, a stash of money he had been keeping under his bed, and the picture his father had taken from him. Ryou had pulled it from his father's slacked grip after the man had fallen into a drunken stupor on the living room couch. He put his belongings in a large backpack and left his home forever, not even once looking back at the man who was his own flesh and blood.

Ryou shifted on the bench, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around them. His backpack sat next to him and he leaned against it sighing. True he did not regret his decision but there was no denying himself that he was in trouble. With his meager supply of money, he was unable to afford any shelter. He was scared to spend it all on food. He felt safer with a small amount of money on his person than none at all so he found himself going hunger during mealtimes. However after the second day he had relented and bought himself a small supply of food which he ate sparingly. Luckily, the park where he was now had water fountains so he did not have to spend his precious money on drinks. This park was where Ryou had been sleeping. The children's play ground had a long play tunnel which he curled up in every night. It was actually not a bad place to sleep. Despite being uncomfortable, it did a good job keeping the cold and rain out.

Ryou got up from his bench and grabbed his backpack, heading over to the swings. Putting the bag beside him, he sat on the middle swing and pushed off the ground. The simple motion of swaying his body weight to keep the swing going left his mind to think. Sure he was alright now but what about when the money ran out? He would get a job if he could but what sort of place would hire a twelve year old? What if the police found him sleeping in the park? Ryou had seen that there was a missing person article about him in the newspaper. They would bring him back to his father! His father would probably beat him within an inch of his life for running away. And even if the police took him away from his father, Ryou would probably be put into foster care or an orphanage or something! There was no way he wanted that! He didn't want some strangers pretending to be his parents. Even if they were good and kind to him, he knew he would never deserve them. He had already ruined his first family; he didn't want to destroy anyone else's lives.

Ryou shivered at his memories then sighed once again. He couldn't worry about the future right now. He still had money left and the police had not found him yet. He would play it by ear and worry when the time came.

Ryou was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp pain in his stomach. He hadn't eaten yet today and he was starving. Ryou jumped off the swing and dug around in his backpack. He was worried to see that his food supply was even lower than he had thought. He stood and shouldered his pack. He really didn't want to use any more money. In that case he would have to go scavenging. After a day without food when he first ran away, Ryou had quickly learned to get over his disgust at looking through the trash for food. You did what you had to do to survive. He still had bought some fresh food however, in case he got sick or couldn't find anything edible.

Ryou left the park and started to walk down the narrow streets of Domino. He wanted to get this done before it got too dark. The streets were dangerous at night. The street he chose was filled with restaurants and other such stores. He had already had luck finding something worth eating here. Ryou ducked into a small alley near a popular café. He went deeper into the alley to where the café's dumpster was located and lifted the lid. He dug into one of the black trash bags and started sorting through it to find something edible. Ryou let out a soft, happy shout when he found a large roll of bread that was hardly even touched. Sure it was burnt a little but it was perfectly fine to him. Putting the bread in his pack, he shifted around the trash putting several more things in his pack. Finally finished, he picked up and put on the backpack ready to head back to the park and fill his stomach.

"Where do you think you're going, kid?"

Ryou spun on the spot. Behind him further down the alley was a large, brutish man. His hair was short, black, and looked like it was oily enough to grease the gears of a bike. His eyes were narrowed brown slits and the expression on his face was one of cruel delight. Ryou shivered. This guy reminded him of his father…

The man crossed the space between them and stood in front of Ryou. Ryou backed up till his back hit the wall of the alleyway and looked up at the face a good foot higher than his own.

"I said, where do you think you're going you little shit?"

"I…U-um…" Ryou stammered. "I – I'm going home…."

The man laughed. "Yeah right kid. If you had a home to go to, then why the hell would you be digging through the trash?"

Ryou couldn't find an answer to this. The man laughed again and moved closer to Ryou putting his hand on the wall and blocking Ryou's escape with his arm.

"So, if you don't have a home, then I guess no one would miss you, hmm?" The man spoke slyly.

_Oh shit…._Ryou thought as he dropped his pack and hurriedly ducked under the man's outstretched arm, running for all he was worth to the alley entrance. The man grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled Ryou close to his chest before wrapping one of his arms tightly around the boy's waist effectively pinning Ryou's arms. The man's other arm went around Ryou's throat; his hand covered the boy's mouth to muffle his cry for help. The man then proceeded to drag Ryou, kicking and thrashing, further back into the alley.

_Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! _Ryou kept screaming in his head. What the hell was this sick bastard going to do?! Ryou's thoughts were quickly answered as the man's hand that was wrapped around his waist started fumbling for Ryou's belt buckle.

"Oh, HELL NO!" Ryou's cry was muffled by his attacker's hand but apparently the man got the gist of what the boy was saying. The man's eyes narrowed. He drove Ryou down to the floor of the alley and straddled the boy's hips, pinning Ryou's arms now with his knees. Keeping one hand covering the boy's mouth, he now reached with his other newly freed hand to his pocket. The man pulled out a small knife and waved it in Ryou's face threateningly.

"You see what will happen if you don't lie there and take it" The man threatened. "I'll fucking kill you, you stupid bitch!"

Ryou had started to cry, tears tracking down his face. The man, satisfied his victim would now cooperate, turned his attention back to Ryou's belt. Ryou waited for a second as the man, swearing, tried to manage holding a knife and unbuttoning Ryou's pants at the same time. Then Ryou, seeing the man distracted, bit down quickly and hard on the hand that covered his mouth. The man yelled and jerked his hand away as Ryou struggled beneath him, screaming as loud as he could.

"HELP, HELP ME, HEL –!" Ryou was suddenly cut off by a searing pain in his side. He looked down to see the man's knife buried in his flesh and blood pooling around him from the wound.

"I warned you – shit! Look what you did to my hand, you stupid fuck!" The man was swearing at Ryou and holding his bleeding hand to his chest. Ryou felt darkness creeping around the edge of his vision and he struggled to stay conscious. But he was losing blood to fast. Before Ryou feel unconscious, he thought he heard an answering shout to his own desperate plea coming from the alley entrance. But it was probably his imagination….

The man on top of Ryou swore. The kid had gone under but apparently his little shout had managed to attract someone's attention. Make that two someones. He could hear their footsteps coming closer to him and the boy. He jumped up, retrieving his knife from the boy's side, and hurriedly ran in the opposite direction. The kid got lucky…he thought savagely as he disappeared into the dark.

The pairs of footsteps in the alley turned out to be two young Egyptian boys. They were similar in appearance; both had beautifully tanned skin, longish blond hair, and large lavender eyes. However, the taller of the two boys was wilder looking and had a more muscular body, sharper features, and spikier hair. The smaller of the boys looked softer, kinder, and younger. The wild looking one was in front looking around for the source of the shot they had heard.

"Hey, Malik, you sure it was – " The taller boy suddenly spotted Ryou on the ground and the considerably noticeable growing pool of blood.

"What is it?" The smaller boy, Malik, came up next to the other boy and saw what had interrupted him. "OH SHIT!"

"Got that right." The other boy bent down beside Ryou and examined the wound in his side.

"Marik, what should we do?" Malik asked staring at the poor broken white haired angel sprawled in the taint of the alley.

Marik rose to his feet and shrugged. "We could just leave him here. He's not our problem."

"Of course, we're not leaving him, you bastard!" Malik hissed. "We're taking him back with us!"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? Bakura's gonna be pissed."

Malik narrowed his eyes. "Bakura can fuck off. We're going to help him and that's that."

Marik rolled his eyes but agreed. Together they bandaged up his wound as best they could using Ryou's shirt. Marik lifted the small boy up in his arms while Malik shouldered the backpack they had found and assumed to be the boy's. Then together, the three disappeared into the night.

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DB: So how was it?! Be sure to keep those reviews coming!

Again, sorry if this chappie was a bit boring….I'll do better I swear! I don't have a beta, so sorry for any mistakes in the writing.

I've already started chapter three. Bakura enters! YAY! ^_^

R&R – Suggestions, comments, and criticisms are welcome, but please no flames!

`~DistanceBetween


	3. Memories of Red Butterflies

DB: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. I know this chappie is really short but I've been so busy and I'm trying to get rid of my writer's block! I'm going to try to get another chapter up this week or weekend though. I promise! I know I said Bakura would be in this chapter but he's not. I'm soooo sorry! He will be in the next one though! *shakes head in shame* I'm such a terrible person..T_T

Again, I want to thank all my reviewers - **puppet-with-a-gunXD**, **Silver880**, **Jet Set Yoyo**, and **subaru1999. ** Thank you so much! You all rock! Cookies for everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. If I did Yami Bakura would always win and Ryou would kick ass.

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Summary: After years of living with an abusive father who blames Ryou for the death of his mother and sister, Ryou finally decides to run away. However, life is hard on the streets. He is soon taken in by a small group of young thieves who decide to teach him how to survive. It would also seem that the so called King of Thieves appears to be interested in him…

Sorry, I suck at summaries…

Warning: mild to moderate yaoi/shonen ai. Nothing too bad though! ^_^ Also some rough language and violence.

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Chapter 3

Memories of Red Butterflies

"**Memory is the scribe of the soul" ~Aristotle**

_**He**__ was trapped, tangled in a web of broken shards of memory and thought. Flashes of color, sounds, smells, tastes – all tore through and around __**him**__, leaving __**him**__ bleeding and raw, and __**his**__ mind screaming for release but none to answer __**his**__ call. __**He**__ thrashed about trying to rid __**himself**__ of these phantoms of the past but they gripped __**him**__ all the tighter, warped claws digging into the recesses of __**his**__ thoughts, pulling __**him**__ forward further into __**his**__ mind's turmoil. __**He**__ knew where __**he **__was going, for it was the key part of __**his**__ agony and confusion, the memory of the event that began __**his **__living hell. __**He**__ felt it bubbling to the surface of __**his **__mind, rising through the deep waters of __**his**__ thought from where__** he **__kept it hidden. Then, it burst to the surface and at once it was clear, __**he **__was there again, where__** he**__ had committed one of __**his**__ two greatest sins. _

_**He**__ saw the park where they had played. __**He**__ saw himself, a small white haired boy of about six years of age. The boy wore a pair of blue jeans and a white tee-shirt. __**He**__ saw the small white haired girl of perhaps five who wore a pink skirt, a white blouse, and a small pink hat and the older white haired woman as well. __**His**__ sister and mother. __**He**__ had not glimpsed their faces like this, almost seemingly alive, in a long time. Yet __**he **__could feel no joy at this sight. __**He **__knew what this memory contained; after all this was the only memory__** he**__ had of them for __**he **__would not let __**himself**__ remember them any other way than the day of her death. __**He**__ did not deserve to forget what __**he**__ did. _

_**He**__ saw the boy run up to his sister shouting and holding his hands carefully in front of him. Upon reaching his sister, he opened his hands to reveal a small, brilliantly scarlet butterfly resting on his palms. It was delicate looking with its small body and legs but its bloodied wings made it look as though it was made with ruby gems. It slowly opened and closed its wings never once trying to fly from its spot on the boy's hand. The girl was fascinated by the simplistic beauty of such a common being. She reached out to touch the tiny creature but it flew through her grasp coming to land on the boy's soft hair. The girl pouted. Why would it not come to her? She reached for it again but was thrown backward as the boy pushed her away. She fell to the ground with a soft squeak. The girl rose and brushed herself off before pushing the boy back. The boy retaliated by taking the hat from her head and running off with it. _

_**He **__could hear no sound from this memory but__** he**__ knew that the boy was laughing and the girl was crying for her hat back. The boy looked to make sure his mother was still in conversation with the other adult before continuing to run toward the edge of the park. __**He **__saw the boy stop beside a road and throw the hat in the middle of it. The girl was breathless and nearly crying. Get it for me, she had said. The boy had refused saying she should get it herself or was she a baby? The girl had been frightened. She wasn't allowed to cross the road and she didn't want to get in trouble but she wasn't going to let her brother get the best of her. The girl straitened herself and had run to get her hat. Neither of them had seen the car coming. _

_It had connected with the tiny girl's body with the sickening crack of splintering bones, throwing her into the air and leaving a shattered, empty vessel sprawled on the ground. Blood had pooled around the body staining the girl's pure hair with the crimson certainty of death. The boy had been in shock, the mother and other onlookers were screaming, and the girl had just lain there still and forever gone from this world. On top of the body landed the small red butterfly that crawled across her face gently as if it too mourned her passing. _

_**He **__remembered what happened next__**. He**__ remembered the accusing looks in __**his**__ mother's and father's eyes, __**he**__ remembered how three days after __**his**__ sister's death, __**his**__ mother had committed suicide which __**he**__ considered to be his second sin, and __**he**__ remembered the abuse that was to follow in later years. __**He **__deserved it though. It was __**his**__ fault after all. _

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DB: I know it's terrible. I wrote this when I was half asleep.

I heard red butterflies are supposed to symbolize death which is why I used it.

**Please, oh, please review**! The more reviews I get the more I'll update and the better I'll write!

I'll make the next chapter really good to make up for this crappy one!

~DistanceBetween


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